Dr. Jed and I have been on the hunt for a new cat or kitten for around the past six months. We have been holding out as we were waiting for “the one.” When I saw her pictures on PetFinder, I thought she was adorable, but it was the in-person visit that convinced us that she was the perfect new family member.
Almost all healed up, and tuckered out after playing in her new harness.
As luck would have it, a few days before we were supposed to adopt her, she developed ringworm. The rescue group politely gave us an out if we wanted it, and I must admit, we did consider.
I am one of those people that are particularly susceptible towards ringworm and I contract it very easily. In addition, we are adopting a second kitten (we ended up finding two that melted our hearts and we all know nothing is cuter than two kittens playing), and we had concerns that the second kitten would catch it from the first.
After much deliberation, we decided to move forward with the adoption of both kitties. We figured that two vets could treat her ringworm more effective than a rescue. That is not to say the rescue was doing a poor job, but we have the time and resources for her to be our full focus.
We have now had McKenzi for a week, and sure enough, I did get ringworm, but I treated it aggressively and it’s already resolved. McKenzi’s is greatly improved and only one tiny spot remains.
Myths about ringworm in pets
5. Let’s get the most obvious one out of the way first, but I do believe it deserves a mention as some people aren’t aware of it. Ringworm is not a worm. Ringworm is cause by one or several fungal infections that infects and survives on the top surface of the skin, called keratin.
4. Ringworm is not just spread by direct contact. Not only can it be spread by indirect contact, such as by touching an object that is infected with it’s spores, it can even be spread by the air.
3. The type of ringworm that people naturally get is different than the type that cats and dogs naturally get. If your human family has an outbreak, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the family pet is responsible if they have no signs. A child could have picked it up at school or a playground. Either way, a culture is needed to determine the species of ringworm being passed around.
2. If a pet has ringworm, it really isn’t a reason to get rid of the pet. With diligent environmental decontamination and a combination of topical and/or oral medicines, ringworm can be cured.
1. If you have ringworm, it doesn’t mean that you have a weak immune system. At any given time in the U.S., ringworm affects about 20% of the population.
Have you ever had a pet with ringworm or had it yourself? Did you know that some ringworm strains glow under ultraviolet light. A veterinarian uses a light like this as a first way to rule out ringworm. Here is a link to that light on Amazon:
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Tags: cats, health, Informative Pet Posts
5 Comments
J.D. had a ringworm on his nose once. We had no problems with treating it, even though we didn’t go with the more effective (and aggressive) one because he’d have to wear the e-collar and with him being so clumsy with it and Jasmine being after surgery we didn’t think it was a good idea.
Our vet came up with alternative topical treatment, that took longer application but worked and WITHOUT the e-collar.
I remember when explaining to us what it was he rolled up he sleeves and showed us where he had had it from his patients. LOL
Nobody else got it from J.D.
That’s great it cleared so easily, and awesome that Jasmine didn’t contract it. So far so good here–keeping our fingers crossed. It now has completely resolved. We got out easy!
McKenzi is adorable! Hope everything works out for you both!!
I have never dealt with ringworm in a pet or myself (knock on wood!)
Thanks so much Tammy! We think she is a doll too but we are biased.
Biased is good in this case!!